Since severing ties in 1961, the United States and former Cold War rival Cuba have reached an agreement to reopen embassies and re-establish formal diplomatic relations.
President Obama plans to announce the news on Wednesday from the White House Rose Garden. It is unknown whether Cuban president Raul Castro will give a similar speech of his own.
Reuters reports,
"Following 18 months of secret negotiations brokered by Pope Francis and Canada, the two leaders announced separately but simultaneously last December that they planned to reopen embassies in each other's capitals and normalize relations.
“U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected at a flag-raising ceremony in Havana later this month, when the so-called U.S. interests section will become a full embassy. Cuba's mission in Washington will undergo a similar upgrade.
"The deal last December also included a prisoner swap and sought to relegate to history 56 years of recriminations that have predominated ever since Fidel Castro's rebels overthrew the U.S.-backed government of Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959."
MRCTV will update this post with details of the agreement following the President's remarks today at 11 a.m. EST.
While the deal serves as a meaningful step forward in the eyes of President Obama and Cuban president Castro, there remain major roadblocks to normalizing relations—including the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, the U.S. naval base on Guantanamo Bay, and the remaining restrictions on travel between the U.S. and Cuba.